Cook-off

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A cook-off is a cooking competition where the contestants each prepare dishes for judging either by a select group of judges or by the general public. Cook-offs are very popular among competitors (such as restaurants) with very similar dishes, such as chili, and serves as a way to decide which recipe is the best for that particular dish.^[1]

A chili cook-off is a social event, similar to a barbecue, in which competitors prepare their own particular recipe for chili con carne and submit it for taste testing. A cook-off may be an informal gathering with the simple goal of sharing recipes and enjoying food, or it may be a large-scale event with a panel of judges and prizes for winners.

The Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) sanctions over 550 cook-offs annually that raise over $1,000,000 for charity. Corporate CASI, which sanctions cook-offs, tabulates cookoff results, and puts on the annual Terlingua International Chili Championship, has an annual income of approximately $250,000. Out of this annual income around $60,000 goes to charity. The CASI is a 501(c)(3) corporation.

The International Chili Society (ICS) organizes chili cook-offs as fundraisers. Its annual cook-offs are on a grand scale, with regional qualifying events that attract tens of thousands of participants and a "World Championship" cook-off held in October. The ICS has raised millions of dollars for charity^[2] while still awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars to winners.

As early as 1970, many communities have hosted non-ICS cook-offs, leading to a competing "World Championship" cook-off in Terlingua, Texas.

The UK Chilli Cook-off Association organises chilli cook-offs as throughout the UK as fundraisers, culminating in the UK grand final at the Upton Cheyney Chili Festival near Bath, UK – Winners qualify for the World Food Championships Chili Cookoff

Many chili cook-offs were either canceled or moved to virtual events because of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2020 to 2021.^[3][4]

• Chilympiad in San Marcos, Texas (1970–2002)
• Lone Star Chili Cook-off in New York City
• 2024 Chili Cookoff Team Generations - Undefeated Champs in Troy^{[clarification needed]}

A ribfest is a cook-off typically for pork ribs.

• Canada's Largest Ribfest – Burlington, Ontario^[5]
• Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off – Sparks, Nevada^[6]
• London Ribfest – London, Ontario^[7]
• Toronto Ribfest – Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada^[8]
• Canada's largest Halal Barbeque and Fast Food Truck Festival, Toronto, Ontario^[9]

• The Great British Bake Off, a British television cooking competition series
• First Lady Bake-Off

• Chili Appreciation Society International, a national/international cook-off organizer and promoter of chili for charity
• Piedmont Pepper Pod, the North Carolina subgroup of CASI
• International Chili Society, a major cook-off organizer
• Munich, Germany's long-running chili cook-off
• Lone Star Chili Cook-off Texas style Chili Cook-off in New York City
• American Seafood Cook-off^{[permanent dead link]}
• NOLA.com
• The Food Experiments, a NYC-based cookoff series
• Mackinac Island Chili Cook-off, held each February on this remote Island in the Upper Midwest
• The UK Chilli Cook-off Association